The series starts off with the discovery of a murdered teenage girl, Laura Palmer. This event in turn leads to the eccentric Special Agent Dale Cooper visiting the town as part of his hunt for a serial killer. Although the murder investigation wraps up partway through season two, a new foe from Cooper's past keeps the plot moving until the notorious "How's Annie?" Cliff Hanger ending of season two (and in fact the series). The 1992 movie Fire Walk With Me mostly wraps things up. The show features a rather large and colorful cast with about as many subplots as there are characters, and the story contains quite a few examples of Red Herring Twist and Powers That Be.

In October 2014, David Lynch announced that Twin Peaks will be returning to TV in 2016 on Showtime. In late 2015, the premiere was pushed back to 2017. As of this writing, filming has been completed on the series, which was shot continuously from a single long shooting script; while it was initially described as a nine-episode limited series, the final episode count will not be determined until editing is complete. The so-called "Season 3" was written by Lynch and co-creator Mark Frost and directed entirely by Lynch.

Bunny Ears Lawyer: Some of Agent Cooper's investigation methods are unique to say the least. Surprisingly this is tolerated and even factored into serious case work by the officers of the Twin Peak's sheriff's department, who have probably never seen an FBI agent before and don't know any better.

The Chessmaster: Windom Earle is a rather literal example of this trope. He determines his victims through a game of chess played against Cooper, and even at one point dresses a victim as a giant chess piece before shooting him with a crossbow.

Cliffhanger Copout: Episode Two in the first season of ends with Agent Cooper having a dream from which he learns the identity of who killed Laura Palmer. Cooper immediately wakes up from the dream to call up Sheriff Truman to tell him that he knows who the murderer is but teases that the answer could "wait 'till morning." Come the next episode, taking place that following morning, Cooper recaps all the events from the dream that ended with Laura Palmer whispering the name of her killer in his ear. Then, once he's asked who the killer is, Cooper nonchalantly responds "I don't remember."

TMFAP: She's my cousin. But doesn't she look almost exactly like Laura Palmer?Cooper: But she is Laura Palmer. Are you Laura Palmer?Not-Laura: I feel like I know her, but sometimes my arms bend back.TMFAP: She's filled with secrets.

The Cuckoolander Was Right: Played straight with the Log Lady and several other characters. Averted by Cooper in that everyone takes his far-out theories seriously anyway (except for Albert, the only person who actually does have good reason to believe him).

Dark Is Not Evil: The inhabitants of the Black Lodge could not by any stretch of the imagination be called good (they eat pain and suffering, after all) but they do help Cooper with his investigation on numerous occasions.

Downer Ending: As there is no third season to provide closure, we're left to assume that half the cast is dead and Cooper's soul is trapped in the Black Lodge while BOB makes use of his possessed body.

Drugs Are Bad: A heavily implied (but not quite Anvilicious) aesop. While drugs are indeed a major part of Laura's downfall, her drug use doesn't exactly lead to her problems so much as result from them.

Gainax Ending: The ending for the "International Version" of the pilot episode. It ended up being heavily edited and re-contextualized for Cooper's dream at the end of the second episode.

Government Agency of Fiction: The FBI in the Twin Peaks universe often deals heavily in supernatural cases. These more often than not tend to be just a little more dangerous than the usual kind of work.

Government Conspiracy: Dale Cooper is a strong believer in conspiracy theories. Given his own experience...

Grotesque Gallery: Lodge inhabitants include The Man From Another Place (a dwarf, who is actually a severed arm in, for lack of a better word, "human" form), The Giant (a ... giant, obviously), a one-armed man, and Jimmy Scott (who suffered from Kallmann Syndrome).

Leo Johnson is one of the few examples of a Complete Monster who manages to turn face. He is an redeemable, abusive control freak toward Shelly in Season 1, but suffers much of the same abuse at the hands of Windom Earle in Season 2. His Heel Face Turn begins when he is reluctant in assisting Windom Earle kill an innocent victim, then sets fellow captive, Major Garland Briggs free and asks him to keep Shelly safe. Bear in mind Leo previously tried to immolate Shelly at the end of Season 1.

Audrey Horne. At first sight she seems to be a spoiled troublemaker who aspires to be a femme fatale (often successfully), but with time it is revealed that she's actually an lonely innocent with good intentions.

The director Todd Holland on Audrey's character: "She's one of my favorite characters because you thought she was such a big slut and she's probably the most moralistic person in Twin Peaks and that's all tremendous fun. The ones like her father feign morality and are incredibly treacherous, but they carry on a good business front."

Humanoid Abomination: Whatever else the inhabitants of the Black Lodge are, they are all surely this -- even the more benevolent ones, such as the Giant.

Idiot Ball: Happens sometimes towards the end of the series with both Harry and Cooper. The greatest offender, however, is Major Briggs, who after establishing that a murderous psychopath is hiding out in the forest decides to take a casual relaxing walk in the forest on the way home. Harry and Cooper thinks it's a great idea.

I Just Shot Marvin in the Face: In Episode 4, Andy drops his gun and it goes off by accident. In the next episode, a character gives a braggadocio-filled impression of how he'd handle being caught having an affair while waving a gun around with his finger on the trigger.

Interservice Rivalry: The Deer Meadow law enforcement don't like FBI sniffin' around their neck of the woods.

Invisible Backup Band: James' song he sings while playing guitar in the episode "Coma" has bass and percussion come out of nowhere halfway through.

Is This Thing On?: Played painfully straight with the town's mayor in the pilot and later on in the second season.

Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Albert defines this. After an amazing speech in which Albert's heart of gold becomes apparent, he and Sheriff Truman -- formerly bitter enemies -- become close friends and even hug one another in a later episode.

Audrey: But don't you like me?
Cooper: I like you very much. You're beautiful, intelligent, desirable. Everything a man wants in his life. But what you need right now, more than anything, is a friend. Someone who will listen.

Leitmotif: "Laura Palmer's Theme" and later (in the second season) "Audrey's Prayer" are repeatedly used as love themes. Some characters (Hank Jennings or Windom Earle for example) have their own themes as well.

Occult Detective: The natural result of Agent Cooper becoming aware of the town's less-than-normal qualities.

Of course, he started out using such investigative techniques as throwing rocks at a bottle while listening to the list of suspects to determine which leads to follow, which he learned from the Dalai Lama in a dream.

Keep in mind, given what we find out in The Movie, Cooper had already foreseen Laura's death and Gordon Cole likely informed him beforehand that he was working on a Blue Rose case. Which means the rules are, to put it mildly, just a little different.

Odd Friendship: Well, most of the town's residents and the agents dispatched there are odd, to say the least, but the trope is best exemplified by Albert and Truman later in Season 2.

Old Cop, Young Cop: Windom Earle and Dale Cooper might have been this before Earle went insane.

One-Scene Wonder: Loads of these in the movie. David Bowie shows up for all of a minute as Agent Jeffries (whose role in the shooting script was slightly larger), Harry Dean Stanton as a bizarre trailer park landlord, etc.

Owl Be Damned: They are the eyes of BOB. Maybe (in any case, they are not what they seem).

Place Beyond Time: The Black Lodge, where Cooper winds up stuck for at least 25 years while still communicating with himself and others through their dreams at various points in time -- including before Laura Palmer's murder, which brought him to Twin Peaks in the first place, even happened.

Rape as Backstory: A common explanation of Leland's backstory is that he was sexually assaulted by Bob Robertson, possibly as a means of demonic possession (or thus creating said demonic force). And that's not even bringing up how it affected Laura.

The "Cooper's Diary" book suggests that Cooper was also sexually abused by BOB (he came into his room) as a child.

Rasputinian Death: Leo Johnson. He survives being shot twice, two axe battles with Bobby Briggs (one of them being right after awakening from a coma from said gunshot), survives being out in the woods with no water, gets electrocuted by Windom Earle on a number of occasions, then finally it is implied Leo finally met his fate by a venomous spider.

Real Life Writes the Plot: BOB only murders women who resemble Laura Palmer. Kind of helps that his second and first victim were played by the same actor before David Lynch had even thought to establish this as a plot point.

She Really Can Act: Sheryl Lee's work as Laura (specifically Laura and not Maddie) in the few brief flashbacks in the series was...a little underwhelming, although it did fit in with the spirit of the high-concept Soap Opera spoof. Then along comes Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me and she proved she does have the acting chops.

She does it again with the jukebox at the diner in the second episode.

"God, I love this music. Isn't it too dreamy?"

This happens on a radio (which is immediately changed) in Season 2 episode 2. Actually, this happens a lot on Twin Peaks.

In another season two episode, some melancholy flute music plays over an establishing shot of the abandoned house Windom Earle is occupying, which turns out to be... Windom Earle himself playing the flute. It sounds kind of silly, but it's in fact a pretty eerie moment since he's doing it while waiting for Leo Johnson to come to so he can torture him.

Spider Sense: In The Movie Cooper reveals to Albert that he's foreseen Laura's death before it actually happens (possibly by meeting his future self in the Black Lodge), putting Albert's skepticism in an entirely different context on a second re-watch of the series.

"I've got good news. That gum you like is going to come back in style."

Temporal Paradox: Agent Cooper examines the live security cameras in the FBI office and catches sight of himself on screen as Agent Jeffries walks in the room (which had already happened just a few seconds ago). It's later claimed that Agent Jeffries was never there in the first place. This is hinted to be similar to the way time works in the Black Lodge when Cooper tries to contact Laura through her dreams.

"Now, could we talk about something more important? Exactly how old is that girl?"
"Denise, I would assume you're no longer interested in girls."
"Coop, I may be wearing a dress, but I still put my panties on one leg at a time, if you know what I mean."
"Not really."

Wild Mass Guessing: Due to the extremely ambiguous nature of Word of God (we're talking about David Lynch here after all), much of what is accepted as canon online (especially on this page) is based on some of the more probable and believable examples of Wild Mass Guessing as to what's going on in the series. Even that isn't exactly saying much...

Wild Wilderness: The setting has a creepy lodge in the middle of the woods that may or may not be there and no one seems to notice it.

Word of Dante: It's important to apply this rather than Word of God when summarizing the series. A rather fitting trope when you consider the White and Black Lodge might as well be the in-series equivalent of Dante's Paradise and Inferno... which would make Twin Peaks itself Purgatory...

Wham! Episode: The final one, and several others along the way, including Maddy's death at the hands of of Laura's killer.

What about the first season finale? Audrey is captured at "One Eyed Jacks", Nadine tries to commit suicide, Leland murders the newly captured Jacques Renault in the hospital, Leo tries to kill Bobby but is shot by Hank, the mill, with Catherine and Shelly inside burns down as Pete rushes to the rescue and Cooper is shot in his hotel room by an unknown assailant.

Mark Frost has talked about how he really wasn't sure the show would get a second season, so he packed every conceivable cliffhanger he could into the first season finale (to the point that it almost became a parody) in the hopes that someone would say, "Okay, I have to know what happens next."